Bankrupt airlines company, American Airlines' final
contract offer to its flight attendants has been accepted by them, an airlines
association said on Sunday.
This offer will help the struggling carrier to
restructure itself and cut down on its labour costs.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants said
in a statement that nearly 60 percent of the attendants had voted in favour of
the offer.
"We know this was not an easy decision for our
flight attendants and we are very pleased with the choice they made," AMR
Corp's Spokesman Bruce Hicks in a statement referring to the vote and
acceptance of the contract offer.
AMR Corporation(PINK:AAMRQ) is the parent firm of the
airline company. If the attendants had not accepted the offer then AMR would
have been forced to declare the contracts null and void and impose more
stringent labour conditions for the workers. The flight attendants have had to
agree to a lot of concessions under the new terms.
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The flight attendants' union said in its statement on
the vote that it "will now continue our strong and concise message that we
have zero confidence in this management team."
The aviation sector, the world over, is passing
through trying times financially and many airlines are struggling to survive,
especially with escalating fuel costs and corporate cutting down on travel.
AMR needs to save about $1.06 billion in labour costs
this year and $842 million from its unions.
The flight attendants acceptance of the airlines'
offer isolates the pilots, who had earlier in the month rejected another
contract offered on similar terms.
American Airlines has also renewed a request made to
the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to terminate its current agreements with the Pilots
association and to impose stricter terms for their work conditions. On August
15, U.S. Judge Sean Lane had denied his request on the reasoning that it would
give the airline overbearing powers to sack pilots and engage in code-sharing
pacts.
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